For those interested in the Modern Desktop Administrator track, I wanted to share some of the recent and upcoming changes regarding MD-100 and MD-101.
Last month, The MD-100 course was updated to include Windows 11. The update consisted primarily of the inclusion of Windows 11, and the name of MD-100 changing to "Windows Client", covering both Windows 10 and 11. While there are some differences between Windows 10 and 11 (and the course has been updated to reflect those), Windows 11 is built on the same management fundamentals as Windows 10. The skills needed for Windows 11 remain largely unchanged. This should be considered a minor update, and students who recently took the MD-100 course should not feel compelled to take it again following the December update.
Regarding future updates, the annual review of the track (the JTA) was recently completed. Additional updates will be coming in the Q2 CY 2022 timeframe. We'll also be refreshing the labs and incorporating changes based on feedback from MCTs and students that we've received since the last update. A couple highlights of those changes:
- MD-100 will still focus primarily on the Windows OS, however, more attention will be given to troubleshooting. Course 10982 (which retired in December 2021) and MD-100 cover many of the same topics, while 10982 contained more depth on support and troubleshooting. These are skills that align to the MDA role, and we will be updating MD-100 to include the depth similar to what 10982 covered. Some of the more advanced topics (such as imaging) will move to MD-101.
- With MD-101, we’ve seen some concerns with timing. Several reporting concerns of too much to cover in five days, while some reporting not enough. Given the breadth of topics that MD-101 covers, MCTs should have no problem filling five days. Obviously, in addition to the course content itself, we anticipate a certain amount of time for MCTs to spend providing anecdotal context, personal experience, whiteboarding, demos, and class discussion. After all, the value the MCT provides why students choose a learning partner for training. We'll be working to update content and materials to provide better guidance on this. We're also focusing efforts on labs that have a significant "wait time" and trying to be more strategic about how time can be better utilized when these scenarios occur.
